Rockstar Games Once Planned a GTA Game Set in Tokyo

We almost got a Grand Theft Auto game set in Japan. Obbe Vermeij, the former technical director at Rockstar North, recently shared that the studio had plans for a project called GTA: Tokyo. It sounds like it would have kept the classic open world formula fans know and love while swapping the usual setting for the streets of Tokyo.

The game was intended to follow the same structure as the early 3D era titles like GTA 3. Vermeij mentioned that the team wanted to add a unique twist by making samurai swords a major part of the combat. It would have been a fascinating shift for the series to trade American city life for the aesthetic of Japan.

While this project never made it past the planning stages, it is cool to imagine how a katana wielding version of GTA would have turned out. It is a rare look at what happens behind the scenes at a massive studio when they experiment with new locations and ideas.